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WASHINGTON—The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration on Tuesday proposed guidelines to help restaurants
comply with new food-labeling requirements. The guidelines will
help the companies understand what information they need to post on
their menus as part of health-care legislation signed into law by
President Barack Obama, according to a press release from the FDA. Under
the law, companies must post the number of calories for standard items
on their menu and menu boards. The law requires that other nutritional
information, such as saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total
carbohydrates, sugars, fiber and total protein, would have to be made
available upon request.
Food-labeling requirements on menus have
already taken hold in states such as California and New York, but there
wasn't a national law until Mr. Obama signed health-care legislation in
March. The requirements are aimed at providing people with more
information about the food they eat and helping to reduce rates of
obesity. The requirement, which applies to food chains and
vending machines, has the support of the National Restaurant
Association. The guidelines detail what restaurants will need to
have the nutritional facts on their menus. The FDA said it realizes the
industry will need time to comply with the new provisions, so it
"expects to refrain from enforcement action for a time period that will
be provided in the guidance once it is finalized." The FDA said
it wanted the public's opinion on an appropriate length of time for
refraining from enforcement. |
